undeadfanstoriesfandomcom-20200214-history
Declan Radke (Epiphany)
THEME: Declan Radke is a character in Epiphany. Declan was once married to a schoolteacher and wrote and illustrated children's picture books for a living. After his wife cheated on him with one of her students, Declan snapped and beat the boy she slept with to death. He went to prison, and three years into his sentence, the Plague hit and he escaped. As a repentant wandering traveler, Declan has a chance encounter with the ambitious Gwen Temple and he ecomes inspired to help her with the plans she has to build up a metropolis called New Venice. Personality A sarcastic, self-affirmed charmer, Declan is surprisingly a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and carries the weight of his mistakes on his own shoulders. Though he understands and embraces that as a human being, there must be interdependence with his fellow man. A naturalist who has a love for the beauty in the world around him, nature reveals a child-like fascination in Declan. He also has a wild imagination, coming up with ridiculous scenarios in his head that cause him to overthink and oftentimes get him into more trouble than he even anticipated. He has an investigative heart, which can be dangerous in many social situations, as he will try to dig deep into people and learn every little thing he can. When he goes too far, Declan is always quick to admit fault. He is frighteningly good at lying to those who do him wrong, but is always honest with those he trusts and respects. He makes his self-deprecation humble and honest and less like a cry for attention. History Pre-series Declan wrote children's picture books for a living. He married to a high school schoolteacher and the pair had a child together. His wife cheated on him with one of her students and she was thrown in jail. Declan, driven by rage, beat the student she slept with to death and was jailed for what he did. When the plague hit, he somehow managed to escape prison after being incarcerated for three years. Book One: Revelation A wandering traveler who had been staying in the abandoned city of Grand Rivers, Kentucky, Declan witnessed Gwen Temple's arrival and introduced himself. He became interested in her mission to rebuild society, but he wanted to get something off of his chest before continuing the conversation: he confessed to being "kind of" a murderer. He told his story to Gwen, who sympathized and told him that he was being provided with the chance for a clean slate. Declan thanked her profusely for being so welcoming despite his flaws. He also started to speculate the nature of the infected with Gwen, who revealed that she was bitten. She theorized that this was natural, while Declan seemed to hint that he believed it was something more; she was special. Declan was unsure of how to take in the idea of New Venice as they converged on the city together. He started growing suspicious of Gwen's motives, and blamed this on his overactive imagination. Once he arrived, he was introduced to Bryce Cunningham, one of the council members who worked closely with Gwen. He talked with Gwen a bit about his past, and started to go on a passionate rant about how parents wanted to eliminate fairy tales from school curriculum for their violence, showing a true love for literature and creativity. He suggested coffee with Gwen, but was denied because she claimed to be "not much of a coffee drinker". He witnessed Jarod Knapchuck's fall from a scaffolding, and Gwen's attempt at CPR. The pair speculated that his sudden infection was because Gwen is, indeed, a carrier of the virus. Gwen turned herself into the police station and slept in a cell that night, effectively quarantining herself. Declan accompanied her there, and was given permission to use the spare key under the carpet outside her door to go into her apartment and fill a coffee travel mug with MacCutcheon whisky. Declan found himself tempted into sneaking around her pristine apartment, finding a box with a shiny engagement ring of some sort in her closet. Feeling bad about his snooping, he returned the box to its place and finished what he came to do. He started to think a lot about the implications of Gwen's condition, and came to terms with the fact that it was likely they'd never be together. He started to take a swig of the whisky himself due to the sorrow he started to feel, but spit it up due to the strength of the drink and the contempt he had toward alcohol. He thought maybe it would help, then realized how silly the idea was. When Declan returned, he brought Bryce along with him. As they discussed what to do about Gwen's current state, Gwen sipped on the whisky. By the end of the conversation, she acknowledged how exhausted she was and asked Bryce to return in the morning to make a formal decision. She seemed concerned about the well-being of Jarod Knapchuck's daughter and son. Bryce left and Declan, noticing that Gwen was getting drunk very fast, asked her to give the travel mug back to him but she refused. She asked Declan to stay with her overnight and started rambling about how she could relate to him. She made reference to a possible previous death she was responsible for, piquing Declan's interest. Killed Victims *James *Numerous counts of infected Appearances Theme Trivia *Declan is based on Declan O'Day, a major character from the author's now-defunct story, Eden Rising. **His backstory is altered to be nearly identical to that of Victor Vanbrooke, a character who would have been revealed to have been jailed for beating the the kid who slept with his wife and broke up his marriage, but this storyline never came to fruition because the show was cancelled before it had time to elaborate on this. The major difference being that the kid Victor beat (Gio) survived his beating. *Thank you to Vauseman for casting Declan. You are bae to the extreme. Category:Epiphany Category:Characters Category:Epiphany Characters Category:Remixed Eden Rising Characters